Saturday, January 9, 2010

You may say I'm a dreamer, but clearly, I am not the only one...

Thursday, January 7th 2010I am here in Sanremo. I was greeted at the train station by Guiseppe. He has been a part of Theatrino for ten-ish years. We came back to the hotel where I will be staying with 31 other actors of the tour for the next three weeks before we break up into groups of four. I was utterly exhausted upon arrival because I did not sleep at all the night before. I drank Red Bull and Vodka until about 4 in the morning and had beautifully colorful conversations that eventually led me to acquiring a necklace from a lovely Italian improviser. I simply told her I loved her necklace and she gave it to me. Ask me again, why I love this country. The eve before my departure from Piombino, I was looking for my Bungalo mates and in passing, after not being able to get into my room, I mentioned to some people that I was catching the train to Sanremo in the morning. Upon hearing this, another lovely improviser said that she would drive me as far as Savona which would save me about 40 euro. I got to get to know my lovely ride who just knocked my socks off with her awesomness and true humanity. She drove me to the station, walked me inside (even after I insisted she go because she was going to be late for work) found out about an earlier train that would have saved me an hour, pleaded with the conductor who was closing the doors of the train to let her American friend on without a validated ticket, gave me a hug and a kiss and sent me on my way. The drive was hell due to my severe hangover but having someone to talk to was a gift. We talked about life, love, Improv, the price we paid to party like rockstars, the 37 1/2 tolls she had to pay while driving from Piombino to Genoa and the fact that we had quite a few things in common. Thank you for the ride my lovely Ika, and I will see you soon!

So when I finally arrived in Sanremo, after my brief "I didn't sleep all night, I am still jet lagged, I am hung over" haze, I joined some of Theatrino in the bar down the street. I met about 10 of the 32 tour mates as the rest were snowed in in London. We had an amazing meal, we got to know each other, spent the day kicking it and walking around the city for a bit and then tonight, the rest of the tour arrived. Dinner tonight was one of good energy, good conversations, a cornucopia of accents, laughter, laughter, laughter and stories of the process of auditioning for the company. By the way, while I was waiting for the word of the Tour, I probably sent an e-mail every other week just to make sure Theatrino still knew I was interested. At times, it could have been constituted as stalking, or extreme annoyance. Nonetheless, Romina Tappi, the Artistic Director of Theatrino said to me moments after we met that it was those e-mails that got me in. They put me on the radar and they kept me in their minds. So I don't want anyone to say that persistence does not prevail. I have proof. It does...So far, I do not think any of us are really ready to admit this is actually real. The scripts were passed out today, tomorrow we start our first rehearsal and for the next two-ish weeks, we will be memorizing lines, nailing down the logistics and being split up into our tours. We will be put in groups of four. We met Arrigo Speziali AKA the man behind the magic tonight and listened to his reasons for starting Theatrino, heard about his passion for art and hands on learning. He basically,confirmed that this tour, this magic company, this gift to children, is a vehicle that fits everything I have done in my life thus far. Fuck ups AND accomplishments, temp jobs, unhappy, bitchy bosses who made me feel like crap sometimes, falling for Improvisation, feeling the pressure to "grow up", falling in love, falling out of love, going to college for a theatre degree, studying abroad, traveling, never settling for a "REAL" career. It makes sense now. I knew it before I arrived. I knew the moment I read the job description. After our dinner, Romina "suggested" that we call it an early night so we can be fresh tomorrow. With that said, buonanotte. And Soni d'oro.